Economy on the front burner

Bush, shown here reading to third graders, plans to start the year with a focus on the economy and education.

SUMMARY:

The "E's" have it for President Bush, who has committed to concentrating on education and the economy, and he will begin pushing that agenda Saturday. But Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle started 2002 with a fresh assault on Bush's tax cut plans. In New York, the medical examiner determined the identities of the remains of seven people found at the World Trade Center site.

UPDATE:

Scott McClellan, White House deputy press secretary, said Bush's "first priority" this year will be urging Congress to pass what the White House now calls an "economic security" plan, measures to help laid-off workers and tax cuts to give a boost to the economy. (Full story)

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle delivers a speech Friday, but has already launched an election-year debate over the economy with a fresh slap at President Bush's tax cuts and a call for a "growth agenda" for a country hammered by terrorism and recession.
"We can shortchange critical needs, such as strengthening homeland security, or we can raid the Social Security surplus and borrow money to pay for them," he said. "We cannot have it both ways." (Full story)

The bodies of seven more firefighters pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center have been identified. The New York Fire Department has pulled back on plans to prohibit firefighters from leaving their companies to go to the trade center site when firefighters' bodies were found. (Full story)

KEY QUESTIONS:

Can the agencies charged with preventing and detecting terrorist
attacks keep pace with the ingenuity of organizations that want to
commit such acts?

What effect will the delay in passing an economic stimulus bill have
on the economy?

Laura Bush: First lady of the United States, she has become
more visible since the terrorist attacks, making public appearances
urging parents and teachers to help reassure children that everything is
being done to try to keep them safe. Click here for more

Tom Ridge: Director of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security,
a new Cabinet-level position Click here for
more

Richard Clarke: Head of efforts to safeguard information
systems for the Office of Homeland Security Click here for more

Wayne Downing: Retired Army general tapped as deputy national
security adviser Click here for more

Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan: Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention Click
here for more

Rudy Giuliani: Former mayor of New York

Michael Bloomberg: Mayor of New York

Anthony A. Williams: Mayor of Washington

Dr. Ivan Walks: Director of the Department of Health for the
District of Columbia

Paul O'Neill: Treasury secretary

Norman Y. Mineta:Transportation secretary

Jane Garvey: FAA administrator

VICTIMS:

The latest figures provided by federal and local officials give the
following numbers of people dead or missing from the September 11
attacks:

WORLD TRADE CENTER: According to New York City officials, the
estimated number of dead -- including the 157 on the two hijacked planes
-- is 2,936: 593 confirmed dead; 363 missing with no death certificates
issued; and 1,980 death certificates issued for victims whose remains
have not yet been identified. The initial death estimate was as many as
6,500 people but the number has shrunk for several reasons, including
elimination of duplicate reports.

The attacks of September 11 have sparked new debate about balancing
the protection of U.S. citizens with the protection of the civil rights
of those suspected of terrorism.

While the United States is proud of the freedoms and the legal
rights guaranteed by the Constitution, authorities and many citizens
have argued those people who seek to destroy America do not deserve such
protections while they represent an ongoing threat to the country.
Others argue that it is those very freedoms which the terrorists seek to
curtail, and that to limit individual rights provides them with a
victory.

While those arguments continue, so do the threats against U.S.
interests. Security remains high at airports, certain industries and
many government facilities.